With registration closed for Taiwan's 2026 local elections, the Democratic Progressive Party has put forward no candidates at all in three Yunlin townships — a clear sign of weakness for the green camp and a boon for the Kuomintang.

• In the Yunlin townships of Huwei, Tuku and Lunbei, only one candidate registered for township chief, resulting in uncontested races; the DPP was absent in all three.
• Huwei is Yunlin's second-largest vote bank, with a population of more than 50,000; the number of voters given up this time totals over 100,000, a move described as "bizarre."
• The Taipei mayoral race heated up at the same time, with Chen Shih-chung criticising Chiang Wan-an's "unpleasant looks," sparking controversy over body shaming; Puma Shen stepped in to smooth things over.
• Lai Ching-te, Puma Shen and Chiang Wan-an appeared together at a Zhongyuan Pudu ceremony, shaking hands for the first time since the campaign began.
• Changhua County Magistrate Wang Huei-mei did not attend the opening of KMT candidate Wei Ping-cheng's campaign headquarters, sending a flower basket inscribed only with "may all go smoothly," bringing internal blue-camp discord into the open.

Outlook: the gap between the two parties' grassroots deployments is now settled, and the focus of the campaign will shift to intra-party consolidation and personal-attack controversies in flashpoint districts such as Taipei and Changhua.